2005 California Family Code Sections 9200-9206 CHAPTER 7. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

9200.  (a) The petition, relinquishment or consent, agreement,
order, report to the court from any investigating agency, and any
power of attorney and deposition filed in the office of the clerk of
the court pursuant to this part is not open to inspection by any
person other than the parties to the proceeding and their attorneys
and the department, except upon the written authority of the judge of
the superior court.  A judge of the superior court may not authorize
anyone to inspect the petition, relinquishment or consent,
agreement, order, report to the court from any investigating agency,
or power of attorney or deposition or any portion of any of these
documents, except in exceptional circumstances and for good cause
approaching the necessitous.  The petitioner may be required to pay
the expenses for preparing the copies of the documents to be
inspected.
   (b) Upon written request of any party to the proceeding and upon
the order of any judge of the superior court, the clerk of the court
shall not provide any documents referred to in this section for
inspection or copying to any other person, unless the name of the
child's birth parents or any information tending to identify the
child's birth parents is deleted from the documents or copies
thereof.
   (c) Upon the request of the adoptive parents or the child, a clerk
of the court may issue a certificate of adoption that states the
date and place of adoption, the child's birth date, the names of the
adoptive parents, and the name the child has taken.  Unless the child
has been adopted by a stepparent, the certificate shall not state
the name of the child's birth parents.
9201.  (a) Except as otherwise permitted or required by statute,
neither the department nor a licensed adoption agency shall release
information that would identify persons who receive, or have
received, adoption services.
   (b) Employees of the department and licensed adoption agencies
shall release to the department at Sacramento any requested
information, including identifying information, for the purposes of
recordkeeping and monitoring, evaluation, and regulation of the
provision of adoption services.
   (c) Prior to the placement of a child for adoption, the department
or licensed adoption agency may, upon the written request of both a
birth and a prospective adoptive parent, arrange for contact between
these birth and prospective adoptive parents that may include the
sharing of identifying information regarding these parents.
   (d) The department and any licensed adoption agency may, upon
written authorization for the release of specified information by the
subject of that information, share information regarding a
prospective adoptive parent or birth parent with other social service
agencies, including the department and other licensed adoption
agencies, or providers of health care as defined in Section 56.05 of
the Civil Code.
   (e) Notwithstanding any other law, the department and any licensed
adoption agency may furnish information relating to an adoption
petition or to a child in the custody of the department or any
licensed adoption agency to the juvenile court, county welfare
department, public welfare agency, private welfare agency licensed by
the department, provider of foster care services, potential adoptive
parent, or provider of health care as defined in Section 56.05 of
the Civil Code, if it is believed the child's welfare will be
promoted thereby.
   (f) The department and any licensed adoption agency may make
adoptions case records, including identifying information, available
for research purposes, provided that the research will not result in
the disclosure of the identity of the child or the parties to the
adoption to anyone other than the entity conducting the research.
9202.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department or licensed
adoption agency that made a medical report required by Section 8706,
8817, or 8909 shall provide a copy of the medical report, in the
manner the department prescribes by regulation, to any of the
following persons upon the person's request:
   (1) A person who has been adopted pursuant to this part and who
has attained the age of 18 years or who presents a certified copy of
the person's marriage certificate.
   (2) The adoptive parent of a person under the age of 18 years who
has been adopted pursuant to this part.
   (b) A person who is denied access to a medical report pursuant to
regulations adopted pursuant to this section may petition the court
for review of the reasonableness of the department's or licensed
adoption agency's decision.
   (c) The names and addresses of any persons contained in the report
shall be removed unless the person requesting the report has
previously received the information.
9202.5.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the laboratory that is
storing a blood sample pursuant to Section 8706, 8817, or 8909 shall
provide access to the blood sample to only the following persons upon
the person's request:
   (1) A person who has been adopted pursuant to this part.
   (2) The adoptive parent of a person under the age of 18 years who
has been adopted pursuant to this part.  The adoptive parent may
receive access to the blood sample only after entry of the order of
adoption.
   (b) The birth parent or parents shall be given access to any DNA
test results related to the blood sample on request.
   (c) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no person other than
the adoptive parent and the adopted child shall have access to the
blood sample or any DNA test results related to the blood sample,
unless the adoptive parent or the child authorizes another person or
entity to have that access.
9203.  (a) The department or a licensed adoption agency shall do the
following:
   (1) Upon the request of a person who has been adopted pursuant to
this part and who has attained the age of 21 years, disclose the
identity of the person's birth parent or parents and their most
current address shown in the records of the department or licensed
adoption agency, if the birth parent or parents have indicated
consent to the disclosure in writing.
   (2) Upon the request of the birth parent of a person who has been
adopted pursuant to this part and who has attained the age of 21
years, disclose the adopted name of the adoptee and the adoptee's
most current address shown in the records of the department or
licensed adoption agency, if the adult adoptee has indicated in
writing, pursuant to the registration program developed by the
department, that the adult adoptee wishes the adult adoptee's name
and address to be disclosed.
   (3) Upon the request of the adoptive parent of a person under the
age of 21 years who has been adopted pursuant to this part, disclose
the identity of a birth parent and the birth parent's most current
address shown in the records of the department or licensed adoption
agency if the department or licensed adoption agency finds that a
medical necessity or other extraordinary circumstances justify the
disclosure.
   (b) The department shall prescribe the form of the request
required by this section.  The form shall provide for an affidavit to
be executed by the requester that to the best of the requester's
knowledge the requester is an adoptee, the adoptee's birth parent, or
the adoptee's adoptive parent.  The department may adopt regulations
requiring any additional means of identification from a requester
that it deems necessary.  The request shall advise an adoptee that if
the adoptee consents, the adoptee's adoptive parents will be
notified of the filing of the request before the release of the name
and address of the adoptee's birth parent.
   (c) Subdivision (a) is not applicable if a birth parent or an
adoptee has indicated that he or she does not wish his or her name or
address to be disclosed.
   (d) Within 20 working days of receipt of a request for information
pursuant to this section, the department shall either respond to the
request or forward the request to a licensed adoption agency that
was a party to the adoption.
   (e) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall announce
the availability of the present method of arranging contact among an
adult adoptee, the adult adoptee's birth parents, and adoptive
parents authorized by Section 9204 utilizing a means of communication
appropriate to inform the public effectively.
   (f) The department or licensed adoption agency may charge a
reasonable fee in an amount the department establishes by regulation
to cover the costs of processing requests for information made
pursuant to subdivision (a).  The department or licensed adoption
agency shall waive fees authorized by this section for any person who
is receiving public assistance pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with
Section 11000) of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
The revenue resulting from the fees so charged shall be utilized by
the department or licensed adoption agency to increase existing staff
as needed to process these requests.  Fees received by the
department shall be deposited in the Adoption Information Fund.  This
revenue shall be in addition to any other funds appropriated in
support of the state adoption program.
   (g) This section applies only to adoptions in which the
relinquishment for or consent to adoption was signed or the birth
parent's rights were involuntarily terminated by court action on or
after January 1, 1984.
9204.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, if an adult adoptee and
the adult adoptee's birth parents have each filed a written consent
with the department or licensed adoption agency, the department or
licensed adoption agency may arrange for contact between those
persons.  Neither the department nor a licensed adoption agency may
solicit, directly or indirectly, the execution of a written consent.
   (b) The written consent authorized by this section shall be in a
form prescribed by the department.
9205.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department or adoption
agency that joined in the adoption petition shall release the names
and addresses of biological siblings to one another if both of the
siblings have attained the age of 21 years and have filed the
following with the department or agency:
   (1) A current address.
   (2) A written request for contact with any biological sibling
whose existence is known to the person making the request.
   (3) A written waiver of the person's rights with respect to the
disclosure of the person's name and address to the sibling, if the
person is an adoptee.
   (b) Upon inquiry and proof that a person is the biological sibling
of an adoptee who has filed a waiver pursuant to this section, the
department or agency may advise the sibling that a waiver has been
filed by the adoptee.  The department or agency may charge a
reasonable fee, not to exceed fifty dollars ($50), for providing the
service required by this section.
   (c) An adoptee may revoke a waiver filed pursuant to this section
by giving written notice of revocation to the department or agency.
   (d) The department shall adopt a form for the request authorized
by this section.  The form shall provide for an affidavit to be
executed by a person seeking to employ the procedure provided by this
section that, to the best of the person's knowledge, the person is
an adoptee or biological sibling of an adoptee.  The form also shall
contain a notice of an adoptee's rights pursuant to subdivision (c)
and a statement that information will be disclosed only if there is a
currently valid waiver on file with the department or agency.  The
department may adopt regulations requiring any additional means of
identification from a person making a request pursuant to this
section as it deems necessary, and for obtaining the consent of the
birth parents of the adoptee and the sibling in order to make the
disclosure authorized by this section in any case in which the
sibling remained in the custody and control of the birth parents
until the age of 18 years.
   (e) The department or agency may not solicit the execution of a
waiver authorized by this section.  However, the department shall
announce the availability of the procedure authorized by this
section, utilizing a means of communication appropriate to inform the
public effectively.
9206.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department or licensed
adoption agency shall release any letters, photographs, or other
items of personal property in its possession to an adoptee, birth
parent, or adoptive parent, upon written request.  The material may
be requested by any of the following persons:
   (1) The adoptee, if the adoptee has attained the age of 18 years.
   (2) The adoptive parent or parents, on behalf of an adoptee under
the age of 18 years, as long as instructions to the contrary have not
been made by the depositor.
   (3) The birth parent or parents.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other law, all identifying names and
addresses shall be deleted from the letters, photographs, or items of
personal property before delivery to the requester.
   (c) Letters, photographs, and other items of personal property
deposited on or after January 1, 1985, shall be accompanied by a
release form or similar document signed by the person depositing the
material, specifying to whom the material may be released.  At its
discretion, the department or licensed adoption agency may refuse for
deposit items of personal property that, because of value or bulk,
would pose storage problems.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), only the following
photographs deposited before January 1, 1985, shall be released:
   (1) Photographs of the adoptee that have been requested by the
adoptee.
   (2) Photographs that have been deposited by the adoptee, the
adoptive parent or parents, or the birth parent or parents, and for
which there is a letter or other document on file indicating that
person's consent to the release of the photographs.
   (e) The department and licensed adoption agencies may charge a fee
to cover the actual costs of any services required by this section
in excess of normal postadoptive services provided by the department
or agency.  The department shall develop a fee schedule that shall be
implemented by the department and licensed adoption agencies in
assessing charges to the person who deposits the material or the
person to whom the material is released.  The fee may be waived by
the department or licensed adoption agencies in cases in which it is
established that a financial hardship exists.
   (f) "Photograph" as used in this section means a photograph of the
person depositing the photograph or the person making the request
for the release.